Citing Stress, Pompano Finance Director Quits

April 9, 1985|By Jeffrey Moore, Staff Writer

POMPANO BEACH — The city`s finance director, citing an excessive work load and acute stress related to the city`s investment of $11.9 million in the bankrupt ESM Government Securities Inc., resigned Monday after less than seven months in the job.

``Because of my deteriorating health, I have been advised that I should not consider working more than 30 hours each week,`` Finance Director Linda Baker, 40, wrote in her letter of resignation.

Baker offered to continue working for the city part time under contract. She was paid an annual salary of $36,800.

City Manager James Soderlund said Monday he did not ask for Baker`s resignation and that he plans to accept her offer of short-term help. The city is under deadlines this month to submit financial paperwork to the state and to apply for professional certification of its finance department.

Last Wednesday, Baker testified in Washington, D.C., before a Congressional subcommittee studying the collapse of ESM, which closed March 4 while holding $11.9 million in city investments.

While the city has planned to file lawsuits in an attempt to recover the money, city officials have imposed a hiring freeze and strict monitoring of city expenditures while the money -- representing more than 20 percent of the city`s $55 million budget -- remains in limbo.

From Washington, Baker flew to New York City to join a special city delegation attempting to have the city removed from a ``credit watch,`` imposed by the credit-rating agency Standard & Poors after ESM`s collapse.

Those recent events, she said, put her under great stress. She was experiencing stomach problems and excessive weight loss, city officials said.

Baker has attributed her decision to invest city money with ESM to the auditing reports of Alexander Grant & Co., a firm the city has sued after accusing it of failing to provide accurate audits of ESM.